A California dairy producer testified last week before the House Agriculture Committee during a hearing called to review the labor needs of American agriculture.

Randy Mouw was one of 12 people who testified at the Committee’s hearing on Oct. 4 in Washington DC. He spoke on behalf of Western United Dairymen, Dairy Farmers of America, and National Milk Producers Federation.

“Immigration reform is a must for U.S. agriculture because I can tell you from my own experience that not one person who has walked on my dairy looking for work in the past five years is a person who was born in this country,” Mouw told the committee.

He outlined three key principles that must be included in a legislative solution for dairy producers.
1) an affordable and efficient guest worker program that ensures the continued availability of immigrant labor for all of agriculture, including dairies;
2) a provision that allows those currently employed or with recent employment history in the U.S. to earn the right to work here legally, regardless of their current legal status; and
3) a provision that specifies the responsibility for ultimate verification of the legal status of a worker lies with the government, not with employers.

Read Randy’s testimony on the House Ag Committee website.

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Randy’s complete testimony here:
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